Biofuel News

Port authorities in Singapore and Rotterdam said they have not received reports of vessels experiencing problems related to the use of cashew nutshell liquid biofuel - an issue highlighted by fuel testing agency CTI-Maritec last week.Several ships using the two ports reported operational problems in recent months after using marine fuel blended with cashew nutshell liquid, the Singapore-based agency said on Thursday, adding that the cashew nutshell liquid had come from undeclared source materials or production processes.The operational problems included fuel sludging…

Several ships in Singapore and Rotterdam reported operational problems in recent months after using marine fuel blended with cashew nutshell liquid biofuel, fuel testing agency CTI-Maritec said in an advisory on Thursday.Singapore-based CTI-Maritec said it tested samples from the affected ships and found the marine fuel was blended with cashew nutshell liquid that came from undeclared source materials or production processes.The ships had reported operational problems including fuel sludging…

Vitol says it successfully completed its first biofuel deliveries in Fujairah.Through its wholly-owned bunker arm, Vitol Bunkers, two vessels received B24 VLSFO on December 8 and 14. The fuel was sourced from its Fujairah-based refinery FRL and blended with regionally-sourced biofuel at VTTI storage facilities.

Belize is developing a pilot project to convert the masses of foul-smelling sargassum seaweed swamping its pristine beaches into biofuel, its prime minister said in a statement published by regional Caribbean bloc CARICOM on Tuesday.Many Caribbean countries depend economically on drawing travelers from around the world to their white sand beaches, but since 2010 heaps of rotting seaweed have been massing on the shores for reasons scientists do not yet fully understand but suspect are related to climate change.Floating sargassum provides shelter and food for marine animals but as it washes asho

Wallenius Wilhelmsen has signed its first biofuel supply contract with ExxonMobil.The recently signed contract entails the delivery of sustainable biofuel within the second half of this year, aligning with Wallenius Wilhelmsen's strategic goal of achieving a net-zero emissions integrated supply chain service by 2027.The first biofuel delivery is scheduled for July. “The biofuel from ExxonMobil contains 30% biofuel and 70% conventional fuels. It is the best option we have available for decarbonization of the fleet today…

Spanish engineering and technology group Sener said Thursday it had completed the conceptual design of a new sustainable biofuel tanker aimed at supplying biofuels during bunkering operations, that is also capable of capturing CO2 from other vessels.The vessel would be able to carry heavy fuel oil (HFO), very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), biofuels and marine gas oils (MGO), and also store the captured CO2 from nearby vessels."The new vessel has been designed to operate in compliance with the energy efficiency and emission reduction requirements of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GS Caltex to secure marine biofuels.HMM plans to conduct the trial use of the fuels on its three 24,000 TEU container ships in the second half of this year. The biofuels comprise 30% biodiesel derived from used cooking oil and 70% high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO).Biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to conventional fuels, notes HMM. Biofuels also have the merit of being compatible with current ship engines without technological modification.In 2021…

Shipping and commodities firms will commission more ships partly powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) next year while ramping up trials for biofuel bunkering as they seek to cut emissions from ship operations, senior executives said this week.The shipping industry is seeking to reduce its reliance on oil as it tries to meet carbon emission reduction targets set out by the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization.These include the shipping industry cutting carbon emissions by 40% from 2008 levels by 2030…

TotalEnergies Marine Fuels completed the first refuelling of a COSCO Shipping Lines containership with marine biofuel, marking TotalEnergies’ first biofuel bunkering operation for a containership in Singapore.On July 11, 2022, the 4,250 TEU COSCO Houston container vessel was bunkered with TotalEnergies-supplied biofuel in Singapore waters, via ship-to-ship transfer. VLSFO (Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil) blended with 20% second-generation, waste-based and ISCC-certified UCOME (Used Cooking Oil Methyl Ester)…

Mining giant Rio Tinto has entered an agreement with the oil major BP to start a one-year biofuel trial to reduce carbon emissions from Rio Tinto’s marine fleet. Under the trial, BP is supplying Rio Tinto with marine biofuel for approximately 12 months. The fuel will be trialed on Rio Tinto’s RTM Tasman bulk carrier on a mix of Transatlantic and Atlantic-Pacific routes, in what has been described as "one of the longest-duration marine biofuel trials to date." "Sustainable biofuels…

TotalEnergies Marine Fuels carried out its first marine bio-VLSFO (Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil) bunker delivery in Singapore’s port waters, as part of a biofuel trial recently completed by NYK Line and Anglo American.During the operation, a B10 biofuel blend that composed of VLSFO blended with 10% second-generation, waste-based and ISCC-certified UCOME (Used Cooking Oil Methyl Ester) was supplied via ship-to-ship transfer to MT Friendship, a bulk carrier owned by Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. and chartered by NYK Line to transport cargo provided by Anglo American.

BP and Maersk Tankers successfully completed trials using marine fuel blended with biofuel on tankers as efforts grow to tackle the shipping sector's greenhouse gas emissions.Global shipping accounts for around 3% of global carbon emissions. The sector is considered relatively hard to decarbonize because of a lack of alternatives to marine fuel.The trials were completed on two refined oil product carriers chartered to BP from Maersk Tankers - Maersk Cirrus and Maersk Navigator, BP said in a statement.Maersk Tankers is an independent company, owned by A.P.

U.S.-based dry bulk owner-operator Eagle Bulk Shipping announced it has successfully completed its first sustainable biofuel voyage in cooperation with the Netherlands-based GoodFuels, as more shipowners continue to test the cleaner-burning fuel in an effort to reduce vessel emissions.Naturally lower in sulfur, biofuels burn cleaner with less particulates than heavy fuel oil (HFO) typically used by commercial vessels. As a renewable fuel, they also generate a smaller carbon footprint over their lifecycle than traditional fuels. Since biofuels need far less processing than biodiesel and other more refined fuels, they are also lower in cost.The 2015-built SDARI-64 Ultramax Sydney Eagle was bunkered with GoodFuels’ marine biofuel during its port call at Terneuzen, the Netherlands.

NYK conducts third successful biofuel trial on ship carrying Tata Steel cargoThe bulk carrier Frontier Sky, which is owned by NYK and operated by Tata NYK Shipping Pte. Ltd., conducted a trial use of biofuel to transport cargo provided by Tata Steel Limited, the major steel manufacturer in India. According to the company, this is the third successful trial use of biofuel by an NYK vessel.In this test voyage, the vessel was fueled with biofuel by Toyota Tsusho Petroleum Pte. Ltd. at the port of Singapore on November 14 and a test voyage was conducted on a route to the port of Dhamra, India.

Belgian shipowner Euronav said it has tested a biofuel blend marine fuel for its Suezmax tanker Statia in an effort to test the operational readiness and emissions reduction potential of biofuels.The 2006-built, 150,205 dwt vessel took on board 1,502 MT of a BP-manufactured B30 biodiesel blend in the Port of Rotterdam, where there is a government incentive in place to allow for cost effective blending of biofuels into marine fuels (Incentive Scheme for Climate-Friendly Shipping).The biofuel is composed of 30% advanced carbon neutral biofuel mixed with 70% of a conventional VLSFO bunker fuel.

Hurtigruten Group said green upgrades for its entire fleet of Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Express ships—including batteries, shore power and biofuel—will reduce CO2 emissions by least 25% and NOx emissions by 80% as the Norwegian passenger vessel operator continues its journey toward totally emissions-free vessel operations.Already fitted with shore-power connectivity to fully eliminate emissions when connected in port, the seven Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Express ships will be retrofitted with a combination of technologies and solutions specially adapted for each individual ship…

Multimodal logistics company Samskip said it has reached a formal agreement with sustainable cargo initiative GoodShipping to run part of its vessel fleet on cleaner burning biofuels.According to Samskip, the initial usage of biofuels will enable a CO2 emissions reduction of up to 45%, with plans to scale up to a CO2 reduction of up to 80% for any given voyage later in 2021.The Samskip Endeavour, an 800TEU capacity containership which normally runs on traditional fuels, is the first of Samskip's vessels to have started using sustainable biofuels in its recent sailings.Two years ago…

A Crowley ship assist and escort tug serving the Bay of San Francisco is now running on cleaner-burning biofuel, in line with Crowley Shipping's commitment to sustainable operations that decrease the carbon footprint and greenhouse gas impacts of maritime operations.The Veteran, a 6,800-horsepower tug with a bollard pull of 182,000 pounds, received its first bunkering of 24,000 gallons of low carbon biofuel on March 9 in San Francisco, where Crowley has operated tugboats since 1906.Veteran joins Crowley’s Vision/650-10…

BHP Group Ltd said on Thursday it completed its first refueling of a ship with biofuel this month in a trial run that is part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions.It was also the first time that a ship has been refueled with biofuel in Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub.A biofuel blend derived from certified sustainable feedstock sources such as cooking oil, crude tall oil and sewage sludge was used on April 4 to refuel the 81,000 deadweight tonne dry bulk carrier…

Shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) said it has tested the use of biofuel to power the containership MOL Experience. The trial was completed on February 7, 2021, following bunkering at the port of Rotterdam, Netherlands in November 2020 and was performed in collaboration with shipowner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and sustainable biofuel company GoodFuels.During the trial, the biofuel was blended with conventional fossil fuels enabling the 4,803 TEU MOL Experience to make its Atlantic crossings between Europe and the U.S.Derived from renewable sources…

Uniper Energy DMCC (UED) and Neutral Fuels will collaborate to provide maritime biofuel in Fujairah, UAE.The companies will blend UED’s VLSFO and Neutral Fuels biofuel, creating a maritime fuel that meets IMO standard under their ISO8217:2010 RMG380 specification, cutting emissions of carbon dioxide.“The collaboration is aimed to address climate protection, the predominant social issue in the world today," said Lars Liebig, Managing Director of UED. "UED’s mission is to help countries…

Alfa Laval says its 2800 m2 testing space – already equipped for today’s oil and gas fuels – has been readied for testing with biofuels. In coming years,  as the marine industry races to slash greenhouse gas emissions, the center will accumulate knowledge to aid maritime decarbonization.Located in Aalborg, Denmark, the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre is a core component of Alfa Laval’s own research and development. It is also a site for collaboration with industry partners and research institutes…

Singaporean-based Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) said it will trial biofuel bunkers aboard its 2010-built 47,377 dwt MR tanker Pacific Beryl.EPS, which has said it aims to test various alternative marine fuels in an effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, has appointed Dutch-based GoodFuels to supply the biofuel bunkers."Alternative marine fuels are essential transitional fuels that will pave the way towards industry-wide decarbonization and the preservation of the environment for future generations," EPS said in a statement. The bunkering took place in Dutch waters on October 9.